Sparring vids

[Robocok]

Hi,

I welcome criticism. I have much to learn. I'm in the white shirt. I don't know why the video is so dark.

Thanks

 

[Ilk]

Footwork is really bad, my man. You need to relax a lot more. Work on a lot of foundations.

First footwork
- you always circle to the left that a better opponent will time you easily with the right hand
- you cross your legs a lot. I am thinking this is easilly fixed if you work on smaller steps.
- smaller and I mean way smaller steps, you step so wide and big that a good shot will KO you with an ease
- all that leads to a poor balance
- your right leg moves in a bad way when you throw a cross, you are looking forward to being KO-ed in this way. Any nice left hook will do. Work on that cross. In fact I will advice to learn the cross by taking a step to the left with your left leg, it may help you learn the cross. I really like taking a step to the left before throwing it.

Work on small steps, be way slower, practice your legs being under your shoulders.

Then relaxation:
- you are in a rush to somewhere I have no clue where
- you are always going to the left, while you can easily handle these manlets (for your size) by just going back and forward. In fact my advice here is to first learn to fight based on distance management just backwards and forwards like in a point karate. Learn to judge distance and then add lateral footwork or some pivots after your shots.
- relax - take a beating if you have to, but work on having a stable position and balance

All in all - foundations + slower tempo and slower work. Work on the technique, distance management, creating good habits. Forget about winning or losing. Or you will end up with way too many bad habits then having no clue how to fix them.

 

[j123]

You trane UFC brah?
I'm always envious of how large scale and expansive the UFC gyms are, their gear store front is larger than most gym's entire sq ft.

Vid is probably dark because there's no lighting exposure is low. Increase it to get more light in

• You're leaning too forward into your strikes, work on your balance. Head should never dip farther than your knee
• Hands are at your chest
• You need to step in more, you're stepping into outside of your striking range. The only time you step in to land is when you do a flurry and charge forward
• Play more, this is a game, aim to "rack up points", and not make every strike you throw a kill shot. Set them up. eg. 1,1,2 or 1,3,2
• You cross your feet as you move laterally, so you're in a "tightrope" position, thats no good. There, you have no power, your balance is gone, and a shove can put you on your bu

 

[aerius]

Footwork is really bad, my man. You need to relax a lot more. Work on a lot of foundations.

All in all - foundations + slower tempo and slower work. Work on the technique, distance management, creating good habits. Forget about winning or losing. Or you will end up with way too many bad habits then having no clue how to fix them.

This. Start from the beginning. The very beginning. As in how to stand in a good stance with your hands in position. Then how to take steps. Step forward, step back, step sideways, without losing your stance & balance. Spend time on the fundamentals until you get them right and can do them without thinking.

 

[ironkhan57]

From what I saw in the first video, is what @Ilk and @j123 said, your leaning too forward into your strikes, which makes you go off balance, your footwork you need to work on. For some reason I see you a little flat footed sometimes. And sometimes you hesitate (which in a fight hesitation is death [that's from a anime, don't judge me]). And don't be afraid to take a beating. This is what happened to me today:

The instructor decided to go hard on me, and I got a bloody lip, I don't got a problem with him doing that, I have not sparred hard in a year and few months, the more experience you have the more you get use to it.

And another thing if you want to actually fight or get better, don't train at a UFC gym. Train at a local fight gym in your area. That will get you better.

 

[Sano]

I see a few guys in that gym throwing shots with the intent to damage against newbs (without knowing much themselves). Protect yourself and don't let them them drag you into dogfights too often before you actually know what you're doing. It's not worth the headaches.

Btw, a positive thing is physically you seem somewhat trained. You move a lot (too much), but when you practice things at a slower pace and get the fundamentals improved that will come in handy. Keep doing what you're doing, there's potential there!

 

[Robocok]

Warning... long post:
I appreciate the feedback. I will practice footwork and not over extending when I work the bag. I should probably practice it sparring too but I think one of you who mentioned that it looks like some of the guys go a little bit hard was right. I'm kind of paranoid about that.

One of the guys in the background on my first vid is good and has won a few tournaments in So Cal here. He's smaller than me and can easily put it to me.

I only spar about once a month or so because I'm paranoid about taking damage. On one hand, I feel like a pussy for not sparring more but on the other I think I'm old and don't care that much if I'm good at fighting or not.

I think what would be ideal is to do lighter spars but it's difficult because the coach tells us to go light but one guy hits you with a bit more power so you step it up just a little to match him and then it begins to escalate from there.

I was sparring with this bigger dude a couple years ago and got knocked out for like half a second so that I found myself slumped down on the ground. My coach asked me if I slipped and I was like 'no, I went down from that shot'.

You are right. I should work on my fundamentals more. I get excited when I spar and forget everything I learned, crossing my legs and stuff.

Part of me thinks it would be cool to train more to get better and apply this stuff in sparring to get better at fighting but I'm so paranoid about taking damage that maybe I'll just stick to heavy bag and avoid spars where I might be partnered with people who will go too hard (though I'm guilty of it too) so maybe I should just practice fundamentals like footwork and bag work and post that here.

I think the coach there is a good coach (he's definitely a good fighter and trained the smaller dude that wins the tournaments) but I would need to pay for privates to really nail this stuff down. Practicing this stuff you guys gave me advice on by myself on the bag and posting it here seems like a good next step. I appreciate the feedback.

It's interesting how you see so many fighters that have a lot of fights who remain fairly mentally sharp but sometimes you see guys who get brain dead after awhile. I know I'm a beginner and haven't been sparring enough for it to be an issue but I don't know how far down the rabbit hole I want to go. I don't think I want any degree of brain injury tbh.

This vid freaks me out. I'm 36 and have a kid. I need my brain for work. Even if I only sustain 1% of the damage that led to these pro fighters ending up like this, it doesn't seem worth it. I'll never be at a level at my age to make money off this. Ego wise, I don't care that much.



So yeah, I'm going to stick to solo work for now and practice fundamentals like you guys recommended. I will post vids of that here from time to time. Thanks guys

 

[Sano]

Warning... long post:
I appreciate the feedback. I will practice footwork and not over extending when I work the bag. I should probably practice it sparring too but I think one of you who mentioned that it looks like some of the guys go a little bit hard was right. I'm kind of paranoid about that.

One of the guys in the background on my first vid is good and has won a few tournaments in So Cal here. He's smaller than me and can easily put it to me.

I only spar about once a month or so because I'm paranoid about taking damage. On one hand, I feel like a pussy for not sparring more but on the other I think I'm old and don't care that much if I'm good at fighting or not.

I think what would be ideal is to do lighter spars but it's difficult because the coach tells us to go light but one guy hits you with a bit more power so you step it up just a little to match him and then it begins to escalate from there.

I was sparring with this bigger dude a couple years ago and got knocked out for like half a second so that I found myself slumped down on the ground. My coach asked me if I slipped and I was like 'no, I went down from that shot'.

You are right. I should work on my fundamentals more. I get excited when I spar and forget everything I learned, crossing my legs and stuff.

Part of me thinks it would be cool to train more to get better and apply this stuff in sparring to get better at fighting but I'm so paranoid about taking damage that maybe I'll just stick to heavy bag and avoid spars where I might be partnered with people who will go too hard (though I'm guilty of it too) so maybe I should just practice fundamentals like footwork and bag work and post that here.

I think the coach there is a good coach (he's definitely a good fighter and trained the smaller dude that wins the tournaments) but I would need to pay for privates to really nail this stuff down. Practicing this stuff you guys gave me advice on by myself on the bag and posting it here seems like a good next step. I appreciate the feedback.

It's interesting how you see so many fighters that have a lot of fights who remain fairly mentally sharp but sometimes you see guys who get brain dead after awhile. I know I'm a beginner and haven't been sparring enough for it to be an issue but I don't know how far down the rabbit hole I want to go. I don't think I want any degree of brain injury tbh.

This vid freaks me out. I'm 36 and have a kid. I need my brain for work. Even if I only sustain 1% of the damage that led to these pro fighters ending up like this, it doesn't seem worth it. I'll never be at a level at my age to make money off this. Ego wise, I don't care that much.



So yeah, I'm going to stick to solo work for now and practice fundamentals like you guys recommended. I will post vids of that here from time to time. Thanks guys

Don't be afraid of it, just be smart. There's nothing wrong with not wanting to take long term damage if that's not a priority for you. You're not a pussy. You can still learn to defend yourself, and turn if up if you need to. I would definitely practice with a partner, but if you want to do both just find partners that you can be comfortable with going light against. Explain to them what you want to do before the sparring and if they're up for it, it's good. That way you can both actually work and improve, and then when you get better you can find more challenging sparring if you want. Oh and also, work on defense defense defense. As in positioning, good stance, distance management, footwork, slipping, parrying, blocking and so on. Don't become a rock em sock em guy.

Definitely keep practicing the fundamentals, do more drills on the bag and do more partner drills (doesn't have to have a lot of hard contact if any). That's the way to get better. If you want to improve in the sport you need to take the effort to get better and implement what you learn.

 

[shincheckin]

I know you said your a beginner, that being the case, I dont see anything too horribly wrong. I dont like how sideways your stance is, but its boxing so its fine. You drop your hands a bit after punches or during exchanges, which is natural but we all need to work on it. Not bad, I really dont see too much stuff wrong, as long as you continue to train you will improve. What could be improved? everything, but I could say the same for myself. Just keep training and everything will improve. the common things with everyone, chin down, hands up, bring em back to your face after throwing, improve your footwork, try to be more relaxed. All these things will come with time.

 

[Replay19]

Good mobility and actually you work the jab pretty well. Do you practice jabbing and footwork a lot?

 

[Reyesnuthugr]

Ever wonder why your right hand feels so hesitant to deploy? It's because your same side (right) foot is always faced sideways instead of towards your opponent.

Your toes point where your hand wants to go. Point them at your opponent (with your weight on the strong ball area not the toes) and it'll glide right to the target, all nice and ready the split second you need it. If it's pointed to the side, it's not good for much but stepping in that direction.

Just try it with some shadow boxing and bagwork, you'll feel it and it will feel much nicer.

*You also don't need it to point sideways to go sideways

 

[Robocok]

Footwork is really bad, my man. You need to relax a lot more. Work on a lot of foundations.

First footwork
- you always circle to the left that a better opponent will time you easily with the right hand
- you cross your legs a lot. I am thinking this is easilly fixed if you work on smaller steps.
- smaller and I mean way smaller steps, you step so wide and big that a good shot will KO you with an ease
- all that leads to a poor balance
- your right leg moves in a bad way when you throw a cross, you are looking forward to being KO-ed in this way. Any nice left hook will do. Work on that cross. In fact I will advice to learn the cross by taking a step to the left with your left leg, it may help you learn the cross. I really like taking a step to the left before throwing it.

Work on small steps, be way slower, practice your legs being under your shoulders.

Then relaxation:
- you are in a rush to somewhere I have no clue where
- you are always going to the left, while you can easily handle these manlets (for your size) by just going back and forward. In fact my advice here is to first learn to fight based on distance management just backwards and forwards like in a point karate. Learn to judge distance and then add lateral footwork or some pivots after your shots.
- relax - take a beating if you have to, but work on having a stable position and balance

All in all - foundations + slower tempo and slower work. Work on the technique, distance management, creating good habits. Forget about winning or losing. Or you will end up with way too many bad habits then having no clue how to fix them.

You trane UFC brah?
I'm always envious of how large scale and expansive the UFC gyms are, their gear store front is larger than most gym's entire sq ft.

Vid is probably dark because there's no lighting exposure is low. Increase it to get more light in

• You're leaning too forward into your strikes, work on your balance. Head should never dip farther than your knee
• Hands are at your chest
• You need to step in more, you're stepping into outside of your striking range. The only time you step in to land is when you do a flurry and charge forward
• Play more, this is a game, aim to "rack up points", and not make every strike you throw a kill shot. Set them up. eg. 1,1,2 or 1,3,2
• You cross your feet as you move laterally, so you're in a "tightrope" position, thats no good. There, you have no power, your balance is gone, and a shove can put you on your bu

This. Start from the beginning. The very beginning. As in how to stand in a good stance with your hands in position. Then how to take steps. Step forward, step back, step sideways, without losing your stance & balance. Spend time on the fundamentals until you get them right and can do them without thinking.

From what I saw in the first video, is what @Ilk and @j123 said, your leaning too forward into your strikes, which makes you go off balance, your footwork you need to work on. For some reason I see you a little flat footed sometimes. And sometimes you hesitate (which in a fight hesitation is death [that's from a anime, don't judge me]). And don't be afraid to take a beating. This is what happened to me today:

The instructor decided to go hard on me, and I got a bloody lip, I don't got a problem with him doing that, I have not sparred hard in a year and few months, the more experience you have the more you get use to it.

And another thing if you want to actually fight or get better, don't train at a UFC gym. Train at a local fight gym in your area. That will get you better.

I see a few guys in that gym throwing shots with the intent to damage against newbs (without knowing much themselves). Protect yourself and don't let them them drag you into dogfights too often before you actually know what you're doing. It's not worth the headaches.

Btw, a positive thing is physically you seem somewhat trained. You move a lot (too much), but when you practice things at a slower pace and get the fundamentals improved that will come in handy. Keep doing what you're doing, there's potential there!

I know you said your a beginner, that being the case, I dont see anything too horribly wrong. I dont like how sideways your stance is, but its boxing so its fine. You drop your hands a bit after punches or during exchanges, which is natural but we all need to work on it. Not bad, I really dont see too much stuff wrong, as long as you continue to train you will improve. What could be improved? everything, but I could say the same for myself. Just keep training and everything will improve. the common things with everyone, chin down, hands up, bring em back to your face after throwing, improve your footwork, try to be more relaxed. All these things will come with time.

I will practice all of these areas you guys mentioned. I'm not sure if I agree that my gym sucks just because it's a ufc gym. I think any gym is as good as its coaches (plus having a decent facility with the right equipment). Coach developed a fighter who is currently winning local tournaments. I think if I spent more one on one time with him he would help me with some of the fundamentals I need to improve. I will do a private with shincheckin sometime too.

I appreciate the feedback fellas.

Good mobility and actually you work the jab pretty well. Do you practice jabbing and footwork a lot?

Thanks. I don't know if mobility is ok or not because some others are saying it's not good but I appreciate the feedback.
I try to practice mobility and the jab because when I go against the smaller guy who won some tourneys (I didn't spar with him yesterday though), he tends to corner and trap me where he starts catching me when he's in close. Coach tells me to keep my distance and use my reach to keep shorter guys outside.

Maybe I overdo it with the movement. I'm not sure now. I definitely need to stop crossing my legs. Coach told me not to.

Anyway, I'll work on the areas mentioned and post a bag vid after that.

Thanks

 

[Robocok]

Ever wonder why your right hand feels so hesitant to deploy? It's because your same side (right) foot is always faced sideways instead of towards your opponent.

Your toes point where your hand wants to go. Point them at your opponent (with your weight on the strong ball area not the toes) and it'll glide right to the target, all nice and ready the split second you need it. If it's pointed to the side, it's not good for much but stepping in that direction.

Just try it with some shadow boxing and bagwork, you'll feel it and it will feel much nicer.

*You also don't need it to point sideways to go sideways

This makes sense. I will def try it. Thank you

 

[Reyesnuthugr]

This makes sense. I will def try it. Thank you

It's also the reason your legs cross so much.

A lot of people do it. Pretty sure I used to when I started.

It also teaches you to put weight on your heels (vulnerable/off balance/poor general mobility) so yeah gotta fix that. It'll feel much better when you do.

 

[Robocok]

It's also the reason your legs cross so much.

A lot of people do it. Pretty sure I used to when I started.

It also teaches you to put weight on your heels (vulnerable/off balance/poor general mobility) so yeah gotta fix that. It'll feel much better when you do.

So when I throw my cross or hook I should pivot on the ball of my foot? How does it work if my foot is already pointing towards him?

 

[j123]

I will practice all of these areas you guys mentioned. I'm not sure if I agree that my gym sucks just because it's a ufc gym. I think any gym is as good as its coaches (plus having a decent facility with the right equipment). Coach developed a fighter who is currently winning local tournaments. I think if I spent more one on one time with him he would help me with some of the fundamentals I need to improve. I will do a private with shincheckin sometime too.
Thanks

UFC gyms are very heavily focused on recreational members. Most gyms should be, as they pay the bills, but UFC gym's main target audience is specifically that group. They can get by without competitors due to their household name, other gyms not so much.

Unless that coach is very known in the circles as someone you want to train under, I'd look to a more serious gym if I was a serious competitor. UFC gyms, Tapout training center, they're not at the top at my list. Places like CSA, Rev Dojo, Rufus Sports, ATT, etc are

So when I throw my cross or hook I should pivot on the ball of my foot? How does it work if my foot is already pointing towards him?

On the hook your front foot pivots all the way across horizontally. For the cross when you stand, your rear foot should be around at a 45 degree angle outwards. Then you pivot like putting a cigarette out with that foot

 

[Reyesnuthugr]

So when I throw my cross or hook I should pivot on the ball of my foot? How does it work if my foot is already pointing towards him?

Just drive off the ball of that foot. If it's already pointing towards him, no need to pivot. Pivoting is done if it's not quite pointing at him so that it is. It takes a little longer that way. The pivot itself doesn't provide power, it's the drive. Just have it pointing at him already so you don't have to pivot, imo.

You can do it either way but I recommend at least trying my way to see and feel the simple mechanics of it. My right is always ready and deceptively fast, says my coach who can't dodge it.

For your hook, you always want to do the pivot/cigarette crush with your left foot (because hook is done with your left hand).

 

[Robocok]

UFC gyms are very heavily focused on recreational members. Most gyms should be, as they pay the bills, but UFC gym's main target audience is specifically that group. They can get by without competitors due to their household name, other gyms not so much.

Unless that coach is very known in the circles as someone you want to train under, I'd look to a more serious gym if I was a serious competitor. UFC gyms, Tapout training center, they're not at the top at my list. Places like CSA, Rev Dojo, Rufus Sports, ATT, etc are


On the hook your front foot pivots all the way across horizontally. For the cross when you stand, your rear foot should be around at a 45 degree angle outwards. Then you pivot like putting a cigarette out with that foot

The bjj coach is a legit black belt and has several dudes placing at local bjj tournaments. I've watched a few of the guys training with him get a lot better. They now sub me and 2 years ago that wasn't the case. They train more than me so they've outpaced me.

The striking coach seems like he knows what he's doing and the fighter he trained seems good to me but I'm not at a high enough level to really judge. I go off the fact that his fighter has been winning. Tough to say unless you guys could come train there. I know I need work on my technique but privates are expensive. I'm going to do a private with shincheckin at some point.

There are some really good gyms in OC but the monthly rate is a factor at ufc gym. I paid $600 for 3 years on a black Friday deal. That's an insane price. Maybe shin or a local so cal guy could come roll or watch a spar sometime to give me their thoughts on the coach. It's close to where I live too.

 

[j123]

The bjj coach is a legit black belt and has several dudes placing at local bjj tournaments. I've watched a few of the guys training with him get a lot better and sub me and 2 years ago that wasn't the case. They train more than me so they've outpaced me.

The striking coach seems like he knows what he's doing and the fighter he trained seems good to me but I'm not at a high enough level to really judge. I go off the fact that his fighter has been winning. Tough to say unless you guys could come train there. I know I need work on my technique but privates are expensive. I'm going to do a private with shincheckin at some point.

Privates are expensive, esp at a huge name gym. On average they should be $40-60/hr. Anymore than $100 and you're getting ripped off.

 

[dudeguyman]

Hi,

I welcome criticism. I have much to learn. I'm in the white shirt. I don't know why the video is so dark.

Thanks

Hands up, back straight. You pull your hands down when you're leaning so far forward. Don't try to add extra range onto your punches. Other than that just keep calm and focus on the center of their chest.